‘Project Loon’ Is Aloft in Sri Lanka

The first of three high-altitude balloons owned by Alphabet. floated into Sri Lankan airspace as part of a test of the Google’s ambitious plan to beam high-speed Internet to remote areas.

Alphabet employees are expected to arrive in Sri Lanka to test the balloon’s flight controls and Internet speeds, ahead of the scheduled arrival of two other balloons over the next two weeks, said Muhunthan Canagey, chief of Sri Lanka’s Information and Communication Technology Agency. The balloon over Sri Lanka was launched from South America, while a balloon expected to arrive next week is now off the eastern coast of South Africa, Canagey said.